original

The Story Without A Name

นักเขียน: AkioOrSakura

ตอน 1: Prologue

In the heart of the forsaken city, where shadows danced with malice and the very air whispered of long-forgotten secrets, Ava and Erik stood poised on the precipice of danger. The alleyway before them, a winding serpent of darkness, seemed to coil and twist with sinister intent, beckoning them into its depths.

Ava, her brow glistening with sweat despite the oppressive heat, surveyed their surroundings with a mixture of determination and trepidation. Beside her, Erik stood resolute, a flickering white flame hovering over his outstretched palm, casting eerie shadows upon the decaying walls that lined the alley.

"So this is it, right?" Ava's voice cut through the heavy silence, her words hanging in the air like a whispered prayer to the unknown. Erik nodded solemnly, his gaze darting nervously from shadow to shadow, as if expecting the very darkness itself to lunge forth and swallow them whole.

But they were not alone in their plight. They had ventured into the heart of a city abandoned by its inhabitants, a city now ruled by the insidious grasp of demonic entities known as the Devils. These creatures, twisted and malevolent, prowled the streets in search of prey, their hunger as insatiable as the abyss from which they emerged.

Every country had sealed itself behind towering walls, desperate to shield its people from the horrors that lurked beyond. Yet Ava and Erik had embarked on a mission that defied reason and bordered on madness. They had ventured into the belly of the beast, determined to unravel the mysteries that shrouded this forsaken land, no matter the cost.

The alleyway loomed like a trap, its air thick with heat and decay, its darkness stretching ominously ahead. Ava wiped her brow, her gaze piercing the shadows as she turned to Erik, a flickering flame hovering over his palm.

"This is it, right?" she asked, seeking confirmation amidst the oppressive atmosphere. Erik nodded, his lips pressed tight with nervous apprehension.

"Anyone there!?" Ava's call echoed into the void, met only by silence. Erik's skeptical gaze met hers as he quipped, "Did you really expect an answer?"

"I know what I'm doing!" Ava retorted, her pride unyielding. "I have more experience than you."

"More like one neuron short, if you ask me," Erik teased, his smirk interrupted by a mysterious sound from the alleyway.

Frozen in place, they exchanged a wary glance, unsure of what lurked ahead. With determination overriding their fear, Ava stepped into the darkness, her cape trailing behind her. Erik hesitated briefly before following, the darkness swallowing them whole.

As they ventured deeper, the path seemed endless, devoid of any signs of escape. Erik glanced back, expecting to see the entrance they had left behind, only to find an impenetrable wall of darkness. Shadows danced and shifted, teasing at the edges of his vision, leaving him uncertain of what was real and what was mere illusion. Yet, they pressed on, driven by a sense of purpose that outweighed their mounting unease.

With each step, the air grew heavier, laden with an oppressive weight that seemed to press down upon them, suffocating their senses and clouding their minds. Erik's nerves frayed at the edges as he fought against the rising tide of uncertainty, his senses on high alert for any sign of danger.

At times, he thought he saw movement in the darkness—shifting shadows and elusive whispers that teased at the edges of his perception. But whether they were figments of his imagination or something far more sinister, he could not say.

Haunted by the specter of unseen threats and the oppressive weight of the unknown, Erik pressed on, his determination faltering but never extinguished. For in the heart of the darkness, where fear reigned supreme and reality blurred with illusion, he knew that their only hope lay in forging ahead, no matter the cost.

As they trudged through the seemingly endless expanse of the alleyway, fatigue weighed heavily upon their shoulders, their determination waning with each step. Erik's grip on the flickering flame tightened as its light dimmed, as if sensing the encroaching darkness that threatened to swallow them whole.

Just as Erik contemplated suggesting a retreat, Ava's voice shattered the oppressive silence, a beacon of hope in the suffocating darkness. "I see something!"

His heart quickened with renewed anticipation as he followed her gaze, squinting against the dimness until he discerned a faint glow in the distance—a glimmer of light amidst the shadows.

Relief washed over Ava as she rushed forward, her footsteps echoing in the hollow confines of the alley. "Finally!" she exclaimed, her voice tinged with frustration. "I thought we were trapped in a maze."

Erik couldn't resist a wry remark, his sarcasm cutting through the tension. "But I thought you knew what you were doing."

Rolling her eyes at his jest, Ava pressed on, she sprinted towards the beckoning light, Erik close at her heels.

As they drew closer, the source of the glow revealed itself—a large shop window embedded in the crumbling wall, illuminated by an unknown source. Inside, a dusty mannequin sat upon a stool, frozen in time as if caught in the act of adjusting an invisible hat.

Their discovery cast a surreal glow upon the desolate alleyway, a fleeting glimpse of normalcy amidst the chaos and despair that surrounded them. Yet, beneath the surface of this eerie tableau, lurked the lingering sense of unease, a reminder that in this forsaken city, even the mundane held secrets waiting to be unearthed.

Ava's gaze lingered upon the motionless mannequin, her mind swirling with questions as to its presence in such an obscure corner of the forsaken city. Yet before she could voice her thoughts, Erik's sharp gesture drew her attention to something further down the alleyway.

Another shop window, identical to the first but with a subtle shift in the mannequin's stance, beckoned them forward. With a shared sense of curiosity, they hastened their pace, eager to unravel the mystery that lay before them.

But as they drew nearer, their excitement turned to confusion as they beheld yet another shop window, and another, stretching endlessly into the distance like a twisted reflection of reality. Each window bore the same eerie resemblance to the last, a haunting repetition that filled them with a growing sense of unease.

Ignoring the windows that lined the alley, they sprinted forward, their footsteps echoing in the empty expanse. Yet with each passing moment, the world around them seemed to blur and warp, the once familiar surroundings transforming into a nightmarish labyrinth of twisted forms and fading light.

As they ran, the mannequins within the windows contorted into grotesque shapes, their silent screams echoing in the oppressive silence. The dim glow that had once illuminated the alley flickered and faltered, casting long shadows that danced in the fading twilight.

"I think I preferred the darkness to this..." Ava muttered, her voice tinged with apprehension.

"You're not the only one," Erik agreed, his tone heavy with resignation as they plunged deeper into the nightmarish maze, their only hope of escape lying in the unknown depths that lay ahead.

Ava and Erik raced through the darkness, their hearts pounding in their chests as they fled the horrors that pursued them relentlessly. With each passing window, their terror intensified as more clawed hands burst through the glass, accompanied by the grotesque visages of the beasts that lurked within.

The air reverberated with the anguished cries of the creatures, their desperate pleas for salvation mingling with the sickening splatter of blood that coated the ground, painting a macabre tableau of horror and despair. Every step they took was met with a nauseating squelch, the sound of their footfalls echoing in the oppressive silence of the alley.

"SAVE US!" the dreadful voices growled, their cries growing louder with each passing moment. "DON'T LEAVE US!" echoed another, joined by a chorus of desperate pleas that filled the air with a cacophony of terror.

Erik's eyes widened as he spotted a gap in the wall ahead, a glimmer of hope amidst the encroaching darkness. "That must be the exit!" he shouted, his voice drowned out by the deafening din that surrounded them. Ava followed his gaze, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the faint light shining through the opening.

But before they could reach salvation, a shadowy figure leapt into their path, blocking their way with a malevolent smirk. Ava tightened her grip on her dagger, her eyes narrowing with determination, while Erik conjured a strange flame above his hands, its eerie glow illuminating the darkness.

"Get out of our way!" Ava's voice rang out, a defiant challenge to the figure that stood before them.

The figure chuckled softly as he pulled back his cape, revealing a tall and pale man with white hair and sapphire eyes. He regarded them with amusement, drawing his blade with a flourish that gleamed in the dim light.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave so easily," he said, his voice dripping with a sinister charm. "You've made some interesting friends here, though I had hoped them to meet someone else."